Today it rained strong and steady throughout the day. I am quite certain that every living thing had their mouths tipped skyward to catch every precious drop. Rain, glorious rain.
And here a poem… by W.S. Merwin
Empty Water
I miss the toad
who came all summer
to the limestone
water basin
under the Christmasberry tree
imported in 1912
from Brazil for decoration
then a weed on a mule track
on a losing
pineapple plantation
now an old tree in a line
of old trees
the toad came at night
first and sat in the water
all night and all day
then sometimes at night
left for an outing
but was back in the morning
under the branches among
the ferns the green sword leaf
of the lily
sitting in the water
all the dry months
gazing at the sky
through those eyes
fashioned of the most
precious of metals
come back
believer in shade
believer in silence and elegance
believer in ferns
believer in patience
believer in the rain
—W.S. Merwin, from The Rain in the Trees, 1988
Fernwood Nursery & Gardens 
“Through those eyes, fashioned of those most precious of metals…” Thank you for sharing this beautiful poem. As an avid fan of toads and with an equal welcome appreciation of this much needed rain, I look forward to future posts.
hello Dianne, isn’t that a great line “fashioned by the most precious metals”. So about reptiles. We were so delighted with the rain, welcomed it through the entire day, didn’t mind at all the chill it brought with it. Thank you for the kind words and thank you for reading the blog here at Fernwood!
It rained here all day today too, but we are still under severe drought conditions. Hope we get some more before the ground freezes. 🙂
Rain, rain, and more rain…let us all wish for rain…right through til Christmas morning!
Wonderful poem, we are welcoming rain in RI too! Some of my flowers look better than they had all summer and that’s a bonus since our first frost could be any day now.
Hey Paula! We’ve had a frost or two here. The rain has been MORE than welcome, finally and not a moment too soon! We are hoping for a continuation throughout November and it sounds like we could possibly have a large amount of snow this season. Hope you are well and looking forward to the quieter months ahead, I know we are.
best to you! denise
You post the best poems! And we’ve had rain, too, and I, too, am a believer in the rain.